Will Smith Planning ‘Annie’ Remake With Jay-Z

[Update: It’s looking like Willow Smith will indeed play Annie in the remake.]

As the former Fresh Prince-turned-A-lister with multiple blockbusters under his belt, Will Smith likes to keep his children involved in the family business. His son Jaden is currently lined up to star in M. Night Shyamalan’s next film and now his daughter, Willow, could end up as the leading lady in a remake of the musical Annie.

Not only would this new spin on the tale of Little Orphan Annie feature the 10-year old Miss Smith in the titular role, but Willow’s “Whip My Hair” collaborator Jay-Z could lend his musical talents to the project as well.

Variety cites the success of last year’s Karate Kid remake, which starred Jaden, as having paved the way for a redo of the classic musical about a plucky young redhead who has unwavering confidence about the Earth’s ability to continually rotate around the Sun. Multiple Oscar-winninng director and screen legend John Huston helmed the most famous (or for some, infamous) theatrical version of Annie back in 1982 and the original stage show has long since been a popular choice for high schools to perform.

For an idea of the atmosphere and design of Huston’s take on Annie, watch that film’s version of the orphan-happy “It’s the Hard Knock Life” song and dance sequence below:

Now take a look at Jay-Z’s sampling of that original song for “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” to get a feel for how the Annie remake might differ from the 1982 film:

There’s no word yet as to whether the Annie remake will retain the original Depression-era setting and classic versions of tunes like “Tomorrow”, or whether the flick will be a contemporary re-envisioning with modernized songs by Jay-Z. Some moviegoers will consider it blasphemy if the remake changes a single thing from the original, while others will be infuriated by the mere idea of retooling one of the most widely-known musicals around – and of course there will be those that don’t have especially strong feelings about the project either way.

Which camp do you fall into? Does this remake of Annie sound really cool, terrible, or mostly just uninteresting? Be sure to share your thoughts with us (keep them civil, please) in the comments section below and on Twitter @screenrant and @feynmanguy.